


Hide and Seek

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-01-11
Updated: 2008-01-11
Packaged: 2019-01-19 07:02:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12405426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: When Alice decides she's in love with Sirius Black, it's up to Lily to make sure he becomes aware of her existence-- naturally. When that means spending the summer at Godric's Hollow with James Potter and The Wench Lily Prefers Not to Name, things begin to get a bit complicated. This is the mostly lighthearted story of what happens when ...





	Hide and Seek

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

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_Hide and Seek_

_Chapter One . Anything For Your Friends_

_1.10.08_

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- 

“Exams are done. School is out in three days. And I’m trying to muster a sense of, you know, giddiness– but it’s just too _hot_.”

“You say that every year,” Alice replied. She brought her hand up to shade the sun from her eyes, turning to observe Lily as she did so. 

Both girls were sprawled out across the ground using their abandoned school robes as a blanket, their shirts mostly undone, shoes and socks scattered carelessly about them. Lily, for lack of a ponytail, had tied her long red hair up with her school tie. All around them students lay in similar states of heat-induced lethargy. A group of Ravenclaws had enchanted the nearest tree to wave with enough force to power a small breeze, and one enterprising little Slytherin had taken to walking around selling stolen pitchers of pumpkin juice. A few yards away the lake was alive with splashing and shouts– someone had coaxed the Giant Squid into playing an odd version of Marco Polo (a game which mainly involved the students shouting Marco, and the squid barreling angrily after them in response). At the very top of the old Beech tree, James Potter and Sirius Black had erected a sort of diving board from the end of a thick branch. They strutted to the end of it, trousers rolled up their calves, raising their arms triumphantly amid cheers and shouts. Sirius adjusted his tie primly over his bare chest, exchanged a grave salute with James, and leapt from the board into a perfect swan dive. James followed after in a cannonball that raised a splash so high it showered a hoard of nearby girls with water. They shrieked.

“Idiots,” Lily declared. She shook her head, leaning up on her elbows as she watched the boys resurface. James’s black hair stuck straight up, his smile blinding. He swam to the surface and grabbed hold of Remus Lupin’s leg, who stumbled into the lake fully clothed, a surprised ‘o’ still caught on his face. “It’s a wonder Remus still hangs out with those cavemen. If I were him I’d have given up years ago.”

“Given up?” Alice replied distantly. She was watching with some measure of intensity as Sirius pulled himself from the lake and made for the Beech tree again, his wet school trousers hanging low on his hips.

“Given up trying to train them into sensible human beings,” said Lily, laying back down. She cast a suspicious look up at Alice as she did so. She was still staring dreamily out towards the Beech tree. “I mean, he can’t possibly _like_ them.”

“Why wouldn’t he? They’re not entirely unlikable, you know.”

“Maybe not entirely,” Lily consented. She watched James pull himself from the water, a tall girl latched around his neck. She was in their year– a beater on the Gryffindor team. They climbed to the top of the Beech tree and leapt off together, her laughter carrying. Lily wrinkled her nose. “ _Mostly_ , though.”

“I still can’t believe Mia Tamlin is dating James Potter. You’re _much_ prettier than her.” Alice commented. Something about her tone of voice made Lily feel immediately defensive. She stuck her nose in the air. It was beginning to look slightly sunburnt.

“He can date whoever he likes, regardless of how pretty they may or may not be. If anything, I still can’t believe _she’s_ dating _him_. She may be a bitch and a snob, but he’s ten times worse!”

“Worse?” Alice repeated dubiously. “What’s wrong with Potter?”

“He’s a conceited moron who bullies people for fun! His head is so big I’m surprised that stupid tree hasn’t snapped in half from the weight of it! He’s–“

Another loud splash interrupted her tirade, and then a shadow fell over them. A few drops of water fell on her slightly sunburnt nose and Lily looked up to find Sirius Black towering over them, his gray eyes amused.

“My best mate in the whole wide world?”

Lily sniffed distastefully.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t stop you from being a bad judge of character.”

“I suppose– I mean, I like _you_ , don’t I Evans?”

“Hmmph,” Lily replied airily. She reached out and pinched his exposed calf, hard, and he dropped to the ground with an exaggerated scream of pain. Lily took the opportunity to leap on him, mussing his wet hair impossibly– an old joke between them. Sirius was very protective of his hair.

“Watch it!” He hollered. He grabbed her by the elbows and pushed her away while he frantically smoothed down her handiwork. He sat up, legs akimbo, his wet trousers smeared with grass stains. Lily plopped back down on her make-shift blanket with a satisfied smirk on her face. 

“Bitch,” Sirius pouted. Under the gleaming sun, with the light reflecting off each inch of his exposed body, he suddenly seemed very, very naked. Lily may not have noticed, but Alice had– she became very interested in the nails on her left hand, her round cheeks turning a robust pink. Her eyes remained firmly downcast.

Sirius didn’t notice.

“What are you doing over here anyway? Sulking?”

Lily glared sideways at him, her eyes narrow green slits. “I’m not _sulking_ , you prat. Excuse me for relaxing on our first day off– heaven forbid! I actually studied for those finals, you know.” 

“Study? What is this _study_ you speak of?”

“Maybe you’ll be more interested in learning all about the exciting world of studying once you get word you’ve failed sixth year, eh, Black?”

“As if they’d fail a Black,” he replied confidently. He tipped his head back in the sun as if he were drinking it in. “Besides, I did alright. So are you gonna swim or not?”

Lily let out a noncommittal sigh, appearing to think about it. 

“Not.”

Sirius rolled his eyes.

“Come _on_ Lily, we need a seeker for water quidditch and you’re the best we’ve got besides Gibbons. I promise Mia won’t give you any–“

“What does The Wench I Shall Not Name have to do with anything?” Lily questioned sourly.

“I know that’s why you’re over here sulking in the shade; look, I’ll tell James to make sure she stays away and that’ll be that, now come on, it’ll be fun.”

“I’m not sulking, and I’m certainly not sulking because of _that_ nitwit. She and James can both go drown themselves for all I care.”

With that she lay back down, moving the end of her tie to cover both eyes as she did so.

“Li- _ly_...”

“Why don’t you ask Alice? She’s rather a good flyer, you know.”

“Are you now?” Sirius seemed skeptical as he turned to observe her for the first time– she was noticeably round, without much outward grace. Alice blushed harder under his scrutiny, her eyes rising shyly up to meet his.

“I’m decent,” she murmured. 

Her docility seemed to awaken something in Lily, who jerked upright with an indignant frown on her face.

“You’re a far sight more than _decent_ , Alice Muriel Munns!”

Alice glared.

“I’m alright, Lily, nothing more.”

Lily glared back.

Sirius raised his dark brows as he looked between them.

“Well... I’ll be over there if either of you decide to play. Erm, see ya Lily.”

He rose to his feet and strolled away, throwing them a last confused look over his shoulder as he went.

Alice and Lily continued to glare at each other. After a few moments Alice blinked, and then she buried her face in her hands. A piteous moan escaped her. This seemed to confirm all of Lily’s suspicions, who threw her hands in the air despairingly.

“Alice!”

“I really made an idiot of myself, didn’t I?”

“Tell me I’m seeing things! Tell me this is a bizarre heat-induced hallucination– _Sirius Black_?”

“I can’t help it,” Alice wailed. “He’s fit!”

Lily rolled her eyes skyward.

“When were you going to tell me that you like _Sirius Black_ , of all people?”

Alice picked at the nails on her left hand.

“Soon. Today, actually.”

“Hmm,” Lily responded. She shot Alice a reproachful look. “Somehow I doubt you would be so forthcoming.”

Behind them, a great cheering rose from the lake– it looked like Sirius’s game of water quidditch had begun without them. It did not escape Lily’s notice when Alice craned her neck to get a better view of a certain shirtless Gryffindor. She let out a long sigh.

“Why do you do this Alice?”

“What do you mean ‘this’?”

“You _know_ what I mean. Fall in love with these stupid... _pretty_ boys.” Alice looked indignant.

“Sirius gets better marks than half our year, and he doesn’t try half as hard! And if you’re still going on about Oliver Cornwell, then you can–“

“Yes I’m still going on about _Oliver Cornwell_ , Alice, good god, you were still mourning him three days ago! And what did Oliver Cornwell do? Break your poor heart, just like the one before him!”

Lily regretted saying it as soon as the words left her mouth– Alice’s round face crumpled. A few yards away, the Ravenclaw’s with the tree enchantment shouted a few choice spells and the wind picked up considerably. Mia Tamlin, who had been about to dive off the top of the Beech tree, lost her footing in the breeze and toppled ungracefully into the lake with a splash. Lily reached over and took Alice’s hand. She sighed theatrically.

“It’s a disease, you’ve got. I call it ‘Prettyfacedroollovelovelove-itus’.”

Alice snorted with laughter, which was exactly Lily’s intention.

“Well the only cure for a disease like that would be to have my eyes removed,” she joked. 

“I could arrange for that to be done, my dear.” Lily grinned and fingered her wand meaningfully. Alice snatched it from her fingers and they rolled around, giggling and shrieking, for a moment. 

It wasn’t until the enterprising little Slytherin wandered by with the pumpkin juice that they settled down. Lily bat her eyes at him and got two pitchers for a sickle. The girls sat cross legged with the icy jars in their laps, savoring the radiating chill, and talking about the varying ways in which Sirius Black was so smoking hot.

“His hair,” Lily declared.

“Eyes!”

“He has really good teeth, too.”

“I like his hips,” Alice gushed, the blush spreading immediately to her cheeks. She brought the pitcher up and held it there, grinning. “And the way they move when he walks.”

“I bet he practices,” Lily smirked.

The pair of them looked over to where the game of water quidditch appeared to be going quite badly– Sirius’s team had enlisted a tiny second year as seeker in Lily’s place, and she kept sliding off her too-large broomstick and into the water. After the third time this happened, most of the players began to lose interest and broke off into their own individual pursuits; which happened to be snogging amid the lake reeds, in the case of James Potter and Mia Tamlin. Lily wrinkled her nose distastefully at them. 

“I wonder what he sees in her,” said Alice. She shifted, the pitcher tinkling in her lap as she moved. “What would they have to talk about besides each other?”

“Oh, but they have so much in common!” Lily enthused drolly. “I mean, there’s quidditch... and well, quidditch... let’s not forget about quidditch... and oh! _Quidditch_!”

“Exactly. And he never even looked at her up until a few months ago– never gave her the time of day, and she’s been in love with him for years.”

“Don’t remind me,” Lily rolled her eyes. “Every time he’d ask me out I’d get mysterious death threats over breakfast.”

Alice looked shrewdly between the couple in the reeds and back at her friend, who was busy licking the condensation off the pumpkin juice pitcher. “Sometimes,” she said, “I think he’s doing it just to piss you off.”

“Well, it’s working,” Lily replied dryly, her voice echoing against the glass.

The girls were quiet for a bit. Most of the students were now strewn in odd groups around the lawns, their school uniforms sticking wetly to their bodies. The little Slytherin was conversing giddily with his friends, his pockets jangling, and the Ravenclaw’s were frantically prodding their tree, which was now doing an odd sort of jig. Professor Sprout had stormed out of the castle in an old sun dress and was busy taking apart the makeshift diving-board, much to the dismay of the students. Overhead, the sun was making it’s lazy descent out of the sky.

“Have you ever heard of the Festival of Lights?” Alice asked.

Lily lay back on their blanket of discarded robes, her red hair twining brightly with Alice’s honey brown curls. She closed her eyes.

“Godric’s Hollow– on the summer solstice.” Lily replied. Of course she knew– anyone who knew James Potter knew.

“It started out as a celebration for the guy who created the snitch; now they don’t do it so much for him as they do for all the pretty lights. And every year James invites a group of people to stay with him, in Godric’s Hollow, and they go to the festival. Sirius always goes. I wish _I_ could.”

“Hmm.”

“I wish I knew someone well enough who was friends with James– so they’d invite me.”

“Hmm.”

“Someone who I was on good terms with. That I joked around with... and talked to outside of classes...”

“I know what you’re getting at, and _absolutely not_.”

Alice rolled over and faced Lily, her eyes pleading. She pouted out her lower lip. She clasped both hands tightly beneath her chin. 

“Lily,” she begged. “Please, please, _pleaseeeee_.”

“No.”

“But Sirius likes you! All you’d have to do is ask, and he’d say yes! And Remus likes you too– and Peter owes you after all the times you’ve helped him study for finals!”

Lily crossed her arms resolutely.

“Doesn’t matter how much they like me– it’s Potter’s house, and he loathes me; a feeling which is more than shared by his flat-chested, two-faced, big-headed girlfriend.”

“James Potter does _not_ loathe you. He was in love with you last time I checked!”

“You must not have checked lately, then.”

“Lily,” Alice began, rolling over to support herself on her elbows. “He wouldn’t say no to you. Regardless of how _he_ feels or how _you_ feel or how that nitwit _Mia_ feels– he would never say no to you. I don’t think he _can_.”

“I’m sure he’ll manage it somehow,” Lily replied dryly. She turned her face to thoroughly observe her friend, and she did not like what she found there. “Cripes, Alice. You like him _that_ much?”

Her eyes were misty as she nodded.

Lily let out a very long sigh.

Meanwhile, Professor Sprout was busying herself with screaming at all of the half naked students in the lake. Girls wearing bikini’s out of cleverly folded school uniforms were directed (dripping and complaining the entire way) into the castle for a proper change of clothes. Sirius found it necessary to whistle at each one as they passed, which the girls seemed to thoroughly enjoy. Remus stood behind him, shaking his head while he rung the water out of his socks. Mia Tamlin was seated jauntily on James Potter’s knee, sneering at the scantily clad girls– she herself had hardly undone a single button on her uniform. Peter seemed torn between making fun of the girls and whistling loudly at them along with Sirius. James himself did not seem interested in either one of these pursuits. He was looking directly at Lily, who realized all too late that she had been staring. They watched each other for a moment, expressionless; it wasn’t until he raised one dark eyebrow that Lily looked away, wondering as she did so at what, exactly, she was getting herself into.

-

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-

“Well, hello. _You’re_ looking rather miserable this evening.”

Lily looked up at the voice, glancing around the empty common room until her eyes fell on Remus Lupin. He cocked his head at the sight of her, upside down, her feet resting at the top of the chair where her head should be. 

“S’pose I am,” Lily sighed. Her arms dropped listlessly onto the floor. 

Remus settled himself on the ground in front of her, blinking his doe eyes curiously.

“Is it Mia again?” He asked. Lily let out a long suffering sigh.

“I wish everyone would shut up about _Mia_.”

Remus tilted his head at her once more, infuriatingly patient. Lily sighed again.

“What do you know about the Festival of Lights?” She asked– her voice was resigned. Remus’s eyes floated upward thoughtfully.

“Well... it’s pretty.”

“Pretty.” Lily deadpanned.

“Yes, the whole thing is quite aesthetic. Charming, _twinkling_ – whatever.”

Lily rolled her eyes. She flipped her body right side up and slid onto the floor beside him, holding onto the back of her knees. He continued to watch her curiously.

“Let’s say I wanted to go to the Festival of Lights; what would my odds be, you reckon?”

“Markedly high,” he replied thoughtfully. “You’re a popular girl, Lily Anne, I’m sure you could find _someone_ to impose upon for the summer.”

“How many times have I told you not to call me that?“ Lily snapped peevishly. She smacked her hand over his mouth when he began to respond. “Rhetorical question, moron.”

Remus smiled serenely.

“I think you have a beautiful name.”

“Yes, I hear it’s quite aesthetic. Charming, _twinkling_ – whatever.”

“Cute,” he replied dryly; Lily laughed out loud.

The common room was empty, as it generally was at four o’clock in the morning. Left over butterbeer bottles and half-beaten chess sets littered the end tables and sofa arms; the fire was nothing but embers. Lily hadn’t been able to sleep, so she’d thrown on her fluffy dressing gown and situated herself in her favorite chair with a box of licorice wands– she didn’t bother to ask why Remus was up as well. He generally had a way of being around when she least expected to see him.

“You know,” she declared, brandishing a half chewed strand of licorice accusingly at him. “Your unpredictability is becoming rather predictable.”

“Is it now,” he replied. He took the licorice wand from her and began to chew nonchalantly on the opposite end. 

“Yes, quite. I always expect you to be around whenever I least expect it.”

“Paradox,” he smiled, and they fell once more into companionable silence.

Lily had always got on well with Remus Lupin. They had similar temperaments, and there was something about his dry humor that both fascinated and amused her. She could tell he was a boy who suffered– possibly more than she knew– but it was something she had to watch closely for, just beneath the surface. It was in his eyes; big and bright as moons, filled with some inescapable sadness. He was milder than his friends, but not altogether tame. Lily thought she could detect a deeply coiled passion within his skinny frame. If she was not perfectly aware that they would be horrible together, she would probably have set him up with Alice ages ago.

At the thought of Alice a groan escaped her.

“Stomachache?” Remus asked calmly.

“No, prick, it’s Alice. My _friend_ Alice?”

“And what is it about your _friend_ Alice?”

Lily let her head fall back against the footrest with an audible thump. Her arms flailed agitatedly.

“She’s mad in love with _Sirius_ , of all the idiots populating Hogwarts, Sirius _Pighead_ Black, and she wants _me_ to play matchmaker, of course.” Remus eyed her with some measure of bemusement, the licorice wand sticking happily from his mouth.

“I thought you and Sirius were all right.”

“Besides the point,” Lily replied, waving her hand nonchalantly. “The _point_ is he’ll never go for her– she’s too smart for his tastes. And how am I supposed to get her invited to this stupid Festival of Lights, anyway? Potter and The Wench I Shall Not Name would rather see me lynched than have me stay at his house for the summer.”

“Not true,” Remus replied airily. He pointed the licorice at her to back up his point. “The Wench Neither of us Shall Name For the Sake of Polite Conversation and Both of Our Gag Reflexes– well, yeah, she would _love_ to see you lynched. But James, despite whatever prejudices you’ve stored up against him, is far too malleable for his own good. He’d storm around a bit and then carry your trunk up to the guest room himself. He’s a complete and utter sap for you, you know.”

Lily couldn’t help but sputter with laughter.

“Can we just change that to her official name, please? It would make me feel ever so much better about life.”

“I don’t think we have the power to veto given names yet, Lily Anne. When you are Ruler of the Universe and I am your Official Underdog we’ll just change her name to Bitch, alright?”

“Ooh, I like that,” Lily enthused, after punching him in the shoulder for using her middle name again. “Simple, all encompassing. _Bitch_. Your evil genius gives me chills, Rem.” 

“Yes, we Underdog’s usually _are_ understatedly brilliant.” He smiled, handing her back the chewed remains of her candy. Lily tossed it into the fireplace and pulled them out each a new one. “So are we foregoing comments on the last part of my statement?”

“The ‘James is a sap for you’ part?” She seemed to think about it for a moment. “Yes, I think I’ll just pretend that utter falsehood was never spoken. Why acknowledge something that will only spoil what is otherwise a completely hilarious conversation?”

“Touche,” Remus replied. They watched the last embers crackle and die in the fireplace.

After awhile, Lily let out a very resigned sigh.

“There’s nothing for it– I’m going to have to trick him into it.”

“Trick _who_ into it?”

“Sirius,” Lily clarified. She tapped her chin thoughtfully, eyes very green in the half dark. “And Potter as well, sadly. I’m going to have to make them think they’re doing me an enormous favor– which isn’t far from the truth. Maybe I’ll have an aunt whose died or something.”

“I think you sometimes forget they’re my best friends,” Remus declared mildly. He tilted his head in that way of his. “What makes you think I won’t tell them?”

Lily pat his knee condescendingly.

“Oh, you won’t. You know I’ll kill you if you do.”

His returning expression was grave.

“Yes, you _do_ tend to strike fear into the hearts of men, don’t you? Five foot four, barely a hundred pounds– it’s a wonder you haven’t noticed me trembling with horror and anxiety all this time.”

“Oh, I see right through you, Lupin. Right into your quaking heart!” She smiled, poking his chest with her index finger as she did so. He caught the finger and held onto it, shaking it as if it was a tiny hand.

“So tell me Lily Anne,” he tugged her finger playfully, although his eyes were serious. “Why go through all the trouble? I know you– you’d rather be locked in a room with a chimera over the summer than spend it with James.”

“Well,” she drawled. She looked thoughtfully up at the painted ceiling while he swung her hand around. “To be completely honest, a summer with Potter doesn’t sound half so bad as a summer with Potter and _Mia Tamlin_.” She gagged theatrically at the sound of her name, while he pretended to be violently ill all over her lap. “And I mean, _you’ll_ be there, and Peter, and Sirius is all right when he’s not being a pig. It’s for her, anyway– for Alice. It will make her so happy, and that will make _me_ happy.”

Once she’d finished speaking, they looked at each other in silence. Remus stopped swinging her hand around. He tilted his head again, moon-bright eyes contemplative, his thumb insistently tapping the top of her fingers as if beating out morse code.

“Anything for your friends, eh?” He sighed. He released her and leaned back on his elbows, a little half smile quirking the side of his mouth. “You two are more alike than you care to think.”

Lily lay back on the floor, her hair fanning brightly around her, and pretended not to hear him.

-

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-

Oliver Cornwell was quite gorgeous. He also happened to be spectacularly stupid. Lily had hated him from the beginning, but Alice, being Alice, was kind enough to overlook his flaws (in this case, a startling lack of brain cells) and had offered to become his potions partner when all other takers seemed a bit wary. She patiently whispered the right directions into his cornsilk hair each day, and mopped up most of the mess when he melted their cauldrons. She took diligent notes for him when he missed class. She did his homework. She studied with him for eight hours the night before finals, and as soon as he walked out of that potions classroom with a passing grade, he ceased to acknowledge her existence.

When Lily walked into the Great Hall the next morning, she narrowed her eyes into a threatening glare aimed at the back of his stupid blonde head. Despite Remus’s joking the night before, she was pretty confident in her ability to strike fear into the hearts of men. Oliver Cornwell took one look at her before excusing himself quickly from the hall. Lily, taking a seat beside Alice, followed him with her glare the whole way out.

“Oh, stop,” Alice rolled her eyes. “He’ll wet himself.”

Lily had to raise an eyebrow at her friends nonchalance; a week ago she would have burst into tears at the very sight of him. 

“I suppose you _still_ fancy Black, then?”

Alice smiled around her mouthful of porridge, which Lily took as a yes.

“Were you hoping I’d changed my mind since the last time you asked me? Which was, coincidentally, about five minutes ago?”

“Just checking,” Lily responded glumly. She stirred her chocolate milk with her index finger, chin in hand. “You’ve been known to change your mind on occasion, you know.”

“I know,” Alice nodded. She bit daintily into a piece of toast. “But not this time, Lily. This time... I think this is it. The real deal.”

“The real deal?” She replied blankly.

“You know,” Alice’s brown eyes widened mistily. “ _Love_.”

Lily threw her hands up in despair.

“I’m still at a complete lost as to how this even _happened_! I didn’t think you two talked or anything–”

“Oh no,” she said quickly. “We don’t.”

“Then what? How? Why? _When_?”

Apparently, the _when_ was last Thursday; the _how_ was an overhead conversation in an almost empty hallway; and the _what_ was nearly as sudden and unexpected as the _why_.

Alice had been on her way to the Prefects bathroom (she still had the password from last year and tended to make use of it as much as possible) when she heard footsteps in the hall up ahead. Expecting the worst, as it was usually best to do when you’re wondering around the castle at two o’clock in the morning, she hid behind a nearby suit of armor and waited for Mrs. Norris to come prowling around the corner. Instead, the footsteps she heard seemed to come around the corner by themselves. She heard them growing louder, and then felt them stop quite near to her. She could not, however, see who the feet belonged too. There was no one there. And then voices began to ring out in loud whispers.

“Where is it?”

“Dunno, it’s too dark.”

There was a momentary shuffling and then two boys appeared in the place where their footsteps had just sounded. James Potter held a ball of silvery fabric in his arms as he glanced around them, and Sirius Black lit the tip of his wand as he leant in to observe something on a bit of old parchment.

“If the book was right, then the passage should be just west of the mirror, not inside it.”

“The book was wrong,” James insisted. He walked up to the great golden thing and peered contemplatively at his reflection. “I know it’s through here. The trick is how we’re going to get _in_.”

Sirius lowered the parchment and walked over to observe the mirror beside James. He flexed playfully, eliciting an eye roll from his friend.

“Conceited berk,” James observed.

“ _You’re_ one to talk, Ruffled Quidditch Hair.”

“Fifteen and stupid mate,” James replied simply. He scratched the back of his neck. “What I don’t get is how–“

But then Alice, apparently, had lost her footing. She came stumbling out of the armor with what felt like all the noise of an atom bomb being set off in the castle confines. The suited man let out a loud oomph and began clanging around, retrieving his fallen arms and legs. Alice clapped her hands over her mouth in horror. The boys stared blankly at her.

And then they heard footsteps, and this time it really _was_ Mrs. Norris who came prowling around the corner.

“Sirius saved me,” Alice whispered. Her eyes were full of awe. “He took the cloak from James and threw it around them. I thought they were going to leave me there, but then a hand shot out and they pulled me inside and we ran. He _saved_ me, Lily.”

“You wouldn’t have died, Alice.” Lily replied dryly. But she couldn’t help but feel pleased with Sirius– she’d never seen him as particularly heroic. 

At that moment, the doors to the hall slid open and the subject of their conversation strolled in. He was cocky and good looking as ever, tie jauntily hanging loose around the neck and his shirt slightly untucked. Behind him, the rest of the Marauders followed. Peter was laughing loudly at something Remus had just said. James looked as if he would have liked to join in on their conversation, but Mia Tamlin (Lily immediately felt her mood drop south) seemed quite busy maintaining a stream of steady chatter in his ear. As usual, her short hair was tied back in a ponytail. Not a speck of make up touched her bronzed skin– when she spotted Lily (indeed, they all seemed to spot her at once), she sneered at the mascara and light eyeshadow she found there. Lily rolled her eyes when the group seated themselves around her and Alice, who suddenly became very interested in her fork.

Sirius settled in beside Lily, ignored all personal boundaries as usual, and threw an arm around her shoulders.

“Bonjour ma belle fleur!”

“It’s amazing how you’re just as annoying in French as you are in English,” she declared, massaging her temples. Sirius let out a loud bark of laughter. Several tired students turned to glare.

“I love this girl,” Sirius laughed. “She’s such a bitch.”

“Yes, you lot _do_ seem to have a thing for bitches, don’t you?” Lily looked pointedly at Mia before turning innocently back to her porridge. 

“Oh god, don’t start, either of you.“ Remus interrupted; Mia had opened her mouth to respond.

“Yes, no catfights before breakfast! Afterwards, however...” Sirius wriggled his eyebrows.

James seemed bent on not opening his mouth at all. He calmly pulled a plate of eggs toward him and went about pouring some honey on his toast. Lily watched him, feeling sour.

“What’s got you so worked up this morning?” Sirius asked her. He bit into a sloppily compiled breakfast sandwich, spilling eggs and gravy everywhere. “It’s usually a bit farther into the day before you’ve got your bitch momentum worked up.”

“Har har,” Lily replied. Struck by sudden inspiration, she pulled her mouth down into a frown. “Let’s see how good of a mood _you’re_ in when you get the kind of news I got this morning.”

She let out a pitiful sigh for effect. It seemed to work; everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her. Even James looked up from his toast with a frown. Alice’s gaze was wary– she seemed to sense at once what was going on.

“What’s happened, Lily?” Peter asked. He was practically on top of the table in his eagerness to see her, mouth hanging slightly open.

“Yeah, what happened? Are you alright?”

She let out another exaggerated sigh, and Remus’s expression changed. He coughed into his fist.

“Well Lily Anne,” he drawled serenely. “Are you going to tell us what’s happened or not?”

Lily glared at him briefly. Then she sighed once again for effect and screwed her eyes up.

“My aunts been killed,” she whispered. Remus gave her a look that suggested she was overdoing it a bit, so she unscrewed her eyes and settled for looking a bit glum instead, a small frown tugging at her lips.

Sirius pat her consolingly on the shoulder.

“Aw, I’m sorry pet. Rest in peace and all that. She’ll be missed.” He took another bite out of his sandwich.

“How’d it happen?” Peter asked.

Lily ruminated on this a second.

“Tragic boating accident,” she decided, turning to Alice for confirmation. “You know how Bertha loved to boat, Alice.”

“Erm, yes. Quite tragic.” Alice contributed. She turned her blushing gaze back down to her fork.

“Only that’s not the worst part,” Lily declared. Once again, all eyes turned to her. She hammed it up a bit, playing with her food despondently. “My parents have already left the country to attend her funeral– she lived in Norway, you know.”

“Norway?” Remus repeatedly conversationally. “Fascinating.”

“ _Isn't_ it?” Lily gave him a pointed look and he returned to his food. “But now they’re stuck in Norway until September and Alice and I have nowhere to stay over the summer hols.”

By this time Alice seemed to have caught on to Lily’s scheme– she nodded in exaggerated agreement, her face contorting melancholically. Sirius shook his head sadly, putting his arm around Lily again.

“Bad luck, pet.”

“Yeah, bad luck,” Peter echoed. He returned to his food.

Remus leaned across the table to look inquiringly at the girls, chin in hand. 

“And you can’t think of a _single person_ you could stay with?”

Lily and Alice blinked, almost in unison.

“Alice’s parents are already gone on vacation– she was going to stay with me, you know. Other than that, there really isn’t anybody. Nobody we can think of at least, right Alice? Can you think of anybody?”

Alice shook her head no.

Remus nodded his head thoughtfully.

“Actually, I heard Matthew Dobson was quite set on having you stay with him over the hols this year, Lily. He’s always going on about it in Transfiguration.”

Lily’s eyes narrowed into slits.

“ _That_ daft idiot?” 

“Oh yes,” Remus continued innocently. “He was even kind enough to offer you his bed, should you not be interested in taking a guest bedroom.”

Sirius laughed out loud at the look on her face– she was red faced and murderous.

“If we have to resort to _that_ despicable cretin, trust that he will be the one locked up in the guest bedroom, preferably missing all of his limbs.”

“Don’t be stupid, Evans.” James snapped suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him; his expression was dour. “If you need a place to stay _that_ badly, you and Alice can come with us. It’s not like we don’t have room.”

There was a brief silence.

"Besides," he added cheerfully. "We needed two more players to have some proper quidditch."

“Erm,” Lily tilted her head at him. “Thanks, Potter.”

He shrugged as if to say 'no big' before returning to his toast.

“Right on,” Sirius grinned, patting Lily on the head. "You're on my team.”

“And Alice is an excellent flier, I hear,” James nodded politely at Alice. She flushed.

Lily took this moment to gauge Mia’s reaction, which was classic. Her face was puzzled, mouth hanging open, eyebrows quickly drawing together in anger.

“Maybe we should talk about this first,” she whispered to James. He spared her a glance. 

“No, I’m quite set on it. We need two more players, and they need a place to say. Works out perfectly.”

Her lips formed a hard line as she turned and locked eyes on Lily.

Remus watched this exchange, expression amused. He smiled serenely. 

Lily wondered again at what, exactly, she was getting herself into.

-

-

\- 


End file.
